Facebook Activates Safety Check in Nigeria

Following a suicide bombing that claimed more than 30 lives in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, Facebook has activated its Safety Check feature in Nigeria.The feature, which was originally contrived for natural disasters, was activated in Paris after Friday’s attacks.Facebook’s action has attracted criticisms bordering on the seemingly selective response in view of other tragedies such as the suicide attacks in Beirut the previous day.However, Mark Zuckerberg has explained that Paris was the first instance of deploying the feature in a human disaster.Announcing the activation of the Safety Check in Nigeria, Zuckerberg said that after the Paris attacks last week, Facebook decided to use the feature for more tragic events like this going forward.“We’re now working quickly to develop criteria for the new policy and determine when and how this service can be most useful,” he added.“Unfortunately, these kinds of events are all too common, so I won’t post about all of them. A loss of human life anywhere is a tragedy, and we’re committed to doing our part to help people in more of these situations.”The Facebook boss went on to give a message of hope, pointing out that “it’s important to remind ourselves that despite the alarming frequency of these terrible events, violence is actually at an all-time low in history and continues to decline.”“Deaths from war are lower than ever, murder rates are generally dropping around the world, and – although it’s hard to believe – even terrorist attacks are declining.”